Meet BRO, the new app helping straight dudes hook up with straight dudes

Meet BRO, the new app helping straight dudes hook up with straight dudes

SexJanuary 25, 2016By Isabelle Kohn

Chad and Brad are straight men who are attracted to women. If Chad gives Brad an award-winning blow job in the locker room, does that suddenly make them gay?

Popular opinion would resoundingly squeal "YES," but we'd invite you to fathom the following: what if straight bros could hook up without judgment or being prescribed a label that doesn't fit? Sometimes, after all, a bro just wants to blow a bro.

This is the world BRO, the new dating app for straight dudes seeking intimate connections with straight dudes, seeks to create.

According to the app's founder Scott Kutler, BRO was meant to "exist in a grey area between friendship, sex, and dating." It's intended to create a "safe space for men who felt that differing parts of their identity neither fit into binaries of gay or straight culture, and allow them to explore friendships and possibly sex without need for clear definitions." In essence, it's a place for men to exercise their soft sides and the full flex of their sexuality without having to label their desires as anything else than what they are.

BRO isn't just a sex app, although it can be depending on who's using it. It also caters to men who want to form friendships with other men, men who want to date, men who want casual sex, and all the variations in between.

And although it's particularly designed for straight men seeking straight men, BRO is also meant for gay men and men who don't feel they fit into a defined category too. It's a maximally accepting sausage fest.

For this reason, its launch earlier in 2015 got some widely mixed reviews. Many people criticized BRO for instances in which gay men passing as straight men benefited from appropriating straight privilege (although we're not sure how that played out), but it was also lauded for creating a space in which stereotypes mattered much less than connections. The fact that it's highlighted the fluid nature of sexuality has been much appreciated from haters and fans alike.

But beyond the welcoming space it creates, BRO also expertly plays on the inherent awkwardness of straight male sexuality in some hilarious ways. There is infinite amusement in the app’s design: straight guys can ‘fist-bump’ each other as a mark of approval, something which presumably allows them to retain just enough hetero behavior for comfort. It's unclear whether you can offer attractive men backwards baseball caps and basketball shorts as well.

Men on the hunt are also lured to the app with the siren song: "Just sign up, and start looking for new bros!” Adorable.

Fist bump jokes aside, it's pretty great that men are gaining avenues to traverse the lines of physical and emotional intimacy at varying levels. Afterall, straight women traverse that shit every day like it was their job; straight women have the divine power to bend their sexuality to their liking without judgment or consequence; they're free to kiss, fuck and date whomever they please without their sexuality being questioned. We're all human, so we're glad to see this type of expression become normalized.

Clearly, gay and straight are a continuum, not a binary and BRO does a great job of recognizing that. We think society and sexuality always improves whenever men decide to loosen up a little, no matter how many board shorts get fist-bumped at the sports game.